Never walk alone- Walk on - 25. Chapter 25

Andrew and Ryan tumbled out of bed as the sound of the explosion reverberated back from the hills surrounding the bay. They quickly pulled on shorts and T-shirts, then Ryan told Andrew,

"Get the children! I'll be right behind you!"

Andrew ran out the cabin and as he neared the stairs to the lower deck he looked through the main salon out towards the stern. Thick black smoke billowed over the aft deck and the orange tops of flames were visible as well. Then he hurtled down to the lower deck cabins, taking the stairs three at a time. The four children were all huddled in Cameron and Jamie's cabin and flung themselves at their daddy when he appeared in the companion way. He hugged them all and Cameron asked,

"Daddy, what's happening?", his bottom lip trembling.

"I don't know, baby boy. Get your gowns on quickly and we'll go see".
Ryan arrived just then carrying his and Andrew's life vests as well as all their documents. He quickly pulled life vests for the children out of the closet and helped Andrew get them on over their gowns. Then they hurried
back up to the salon where they met Michael and Christine.

"What the hell is going on Michael?", he enquired urgently looking at the smoke still coming over the stern and noticing, for the first time, the top of the mast of another vessel behind them.

"Morning Ryan, Andrew! Firstly, it's not us. But we're not out of danger yet!", Michael replied hurrying up the stairs to the bridge with the Devlin-Majors trailing behind him. They felt the deck vibrate slightly as Brian brought the engines on line.

"A small Azimut motoryacht anchored aft of us during the night. Too close in my opinion! It is they who are on fire. Brian noticed the smoke when he was doing his rounds this morning and alerted me. I went to the bridge to raise them on the radio, while he tried hailing them from the stern. The crew and passengers must have realised they had a problem and abandoned ship into the water just as she exploded. Gary is retrieving them with the tender as we speak. Their aft line was severed by the explosion and she has swung round on her bow anchor so the vessel islying very close to us. I was about to move us further away to prevent any damage".

Arriving on the bridge, Michael raised their bow anchor, engaged the motors and pulled away to a safer distance while the Devlin-Majors went out onto the Sky Deck. As they moved away from the smoke and flames, the much smaller vessel became visible, as well as the tender, and Gary pulling survivors out of the water. The stern and superstructure of the yacht was well ablaze, flames licking out of every opening with a plume of thick black smoke. They watched as Gary turned back to 'Amira' with four people on board.

"Stay here",Ryan told Andrew. "I'm going down to the swim platform"

Andrew watched as Ryan went down the aft exterior stairs to the main deck and then down the stairs to the swim platform where Christine waited with towels and extra bathrobes. Gary approached the platform slowly and tossed a bow line to Ryan who tied it off to a cleat. He and Christine assisted the four survivors on board, one woman weeping bitterly, just as the faint sound of a dog barking was heard.

"Are any of you hurt?", Ryan enquired.

"No, we're all fine", one of the men replied. "But our little maltese poodle is still on board.".

Ryan's heart lurched and quickly looked up the the burning yacht. On the bow stood a tiny white ball of fluff, barking frantically and running around. He quickly untied the tender and jumped on board.

"Get me to that dog. As fast as you can!", he ordered Gary, who replied by ramming the tenders throttles to their stops. The boat leapt away from her mother ship and pealed away to starboard, her bow high in the air. It took less than thirty seconds to reach the bow of yacht, thankfully still free of flames. The little pooch somehow realised that they were coming to save it and before Ryan could reach out to lift it off, it launched itself across the gap into Ryan's arms getting his face licked quite thoroughly in the process. Gary sped back to 'Amira', where the maltese was reunited with its very grateful owner.

Christine took them up to the Sky Deck where Ray had hot coffee waiting along with a bottle of cognac. Ryan and Gary secured the tender secured and then he too returned to where Andrew and the children were waiting, getting hugs from all of them.

"Is the puppy okay, dad", Cameron asked.

"It's fine Cam. It wasn't hurt", he told his son, wrapping him in has arms. He stood up as the four occupants of the stricken yacht approached them at the aft rail.

"Hi everyone. I'm happy to see you are all unhurt. My name is Ryan Devlin-Major, co-owner of this vessel along with my husband, Andrew", he said in greeting, indicating Andrew as he spoke. "And our four children Cameron, Jamie, Fiona and Elizabeth".

"We cannot thank you enough for coming to our assistance", the older of the two men replied. "I'm Roger Beauchamp, this is my wife Melissa, my younger brother Grant, his wife Tyla and Cindy, her maltese".

"Well Roger, were just pleased we could be of assistance", Andrew replied as he greeted them all and patted Cindy who licked his hand. "You gave us all on helluva fright. Do you know what caused the fire?", he enquired.

"I'm not sure exactly. We've only had the boat for two days. Supposed to be a week long charter. It seemed to start on the port aft side of the salon, in the galley. The only appliances in that area were the refrigerator and the dishwasher and we first smelled something burning just after the dishwasher was turned on. We were just beginning to trace the smell when the whole back corner of the galley burst into flames. We emptied two CO2 extinguishers at it but it was a bust. When we realised the flames were burning around the propane tanks, we decided to abandon ship. Cindy panicked and ran out onto the deck and as we were going to get her, the first tank exploded, knocking us all overboard. That's how she got left behind", he explained just as another explosion rocked the burning vessel, virtually destroying the main deck cabin and the fly bridge and sending a propane tank arcing through the air to land with a splash about one hundred meters on their starboard side. The yacht was fully enveloped in flame and a launch finally arrived on the scene from the small harbour and began fighting the inferno with two hoses that pumped water directly from the ocean. The attempt was futile as it was obvious the yacht was a total loss. Due to the water being poured into her she eventually took on a significant list to port and less than ten minutes later, with a hiss of steam, she capsized, filled with water and vanished below the surface leaving several pieces of debris floating on the calm water. It was a sobering reminder of one of the biggest dangers of yachting. The harbour launch retrieved as much debris as it could, then came alongside 'MY Amira' and Michael met the two officials who came aboard, a fire officer and an officer from the Hellenic Police. They took the survivors on board their launch, spoke briefly with Michael and then returned to the harbour.

"We've been requested to remain on station until someone has come out to take our statements. So it looks like we're here for the rest of the day".

While they were having breakfast, another launch arrived at the site where the yacht sank and they watched as two divers went down to the wreck. They returned to the surface ten minutes later and soon after a floating boom was erected in the water above the wreck, roughly fifty meters in diameter. Apparently the wreck was leaking fuel and the boom was in place to prevent it from spreading.

Just before lunch a small twin engined turboprop with Hellenic Police markings flew low overhead, making two passes over 'MY Amira' and the wreck site. Two hours later, the launch approached bearing the two officials who had flown from Athens to investigate the incident as well as the two officials who were aboard earlier. Statements were taken from all who were involved and the investigators disembarked shortly after 16h00, advising that they were free to leave whenever they wished.

They sailed for Kefalonia the following morning, but the events of the previous day had taken the enjoyment out of the trip and after a chat with Andrew, Ryan advised Michael to head back to Athens and it was only really one day that they would be cutting
The transit eastward back through the Corinth Canal was a breeze and 'MY Amira' tied up to the pier in the Flisvos Marina in the late afternoon. Their arrival, however, did not go unnoticed.

The Greek press and several international outlets had gotten wind of the events off Lefkada, and there was a sizable press contingent waiting for them, clamouring for interviews. Michael eventually disembarked onto the pier to hold an impromptu press conference. Neither Ryan nor Andrew had any desire to deal with the press and kept out of sight when some of them remained after Michael returned on board.

They decided to remain on board for the night, inviting Gabriel and Lucas for dinner and to officially hand over 'MY Amira' to them. The new owners had no problem getting on board through the gathered throng, and Gary stowed the passerelle as soon as they arrived to prevent any chancers taking the opportunity to slip onto the yacht.
Naturally the entire episode in Rouda Bay had to be retold and Gabriel and Lucas were assured that 'Amira' had not suffered any damage, apart from the very slight lingering smell of smoke in the salon, which her present crew would take care of over the next few days by giving the upholstery and curtains a good cleaning. By agreement, Michael and the crew were staying on board to complete the cruising season for Gabriel and Lucas, until the new crew arrived at the end of the cruising season in September and get them up to speed. They would then fly back to South Africa for two weeks vacation and to spend time with their families before starting preparations for the launch and sea trials of the new catamaran and positioning to Mauritius early in the new year.

'MY Amira' made the local TV news that night and the following morning, as well as the front pages of several newspapers. Andrew was working on his laptop in bed when a series of pings notified him of incoming messages. The particular ping that was heard he knew was the one that he had allocated for the 'MY Amira' reservation page.

He stopped to take a break about thirty minutes later, when a different notification sound alerted him to an incoming message on his private email account. He opened the page, groaned out loud and cursed.

"Shit! I don't freaking believe it!"

Ryan looked up from where he was sitting watching TV with the children.

"What's up babe?", he queried. Andrew gave an exasperated sigh.

"The airline just sent me an email advising that our flight from Athens to Addis Ababa has been downgraded", he said using air quotes, "for operational reasons. It's been changed from a Boeing777 wide body aircraft to a Boeing737 narrow body. The whole seating arrangement is different as well. I really do not want to spend 4.5hours on a small plane to Addis. If I'm going to dothat, then it's got to be on a private jet".
He stopped and giggled.

"Good grief! When did I become an aircraft snob?"
Ryan grinned as well.

"If you want my opinion, we've just gotten spoilt by private jets and business class. But I do agree with you. Two, two and a half hours is about my limit on a narrow body. Can we change our flights at this late stage?"
Andrew nodded.

"Yeah, when I make the reservations I always take all the options, so it shouldn't be a problem. Now I've just got to find an alternative ASAP"

In light of their past experiences with the airline, his first port of call was their go-to airline, Lufthansa, and he breathed a sigh of relief. They had seats available from Athens to Cape Town via Munich. One small problem was that the Athens - Munich flight departed at 14h55, a full eight hours before they had planned to leave. He made the reservations and then emailed the limousine company that would be taking them to the airport to change the pickup time as well.

"Okay family, we got four and a half hours to have breakfast, finish the packing and get ready to leave. Let's get mobile! Ry, my love, will you advise Michael of the change in plans"

Then he opened the reservation page and was slightly chagrined to see ten new requests for charter which he correctly surmised stemmed directly from the latest news coverage. He was also fully aware that Devlin-Major Charters would not be benefitting from those charters as Gabriel and Lucas would taking over the reservation system from midnight that same day. It had already been agreed that Devlin-Major Charters would inform all prospective charters of the change of ownership and advising that they confirm with the new owners that they still wished to proceed with the charter.

It was a bit hectic for the next few hours but by 11h15 they were ready to leave 'MY Amira' for the last time. The limousine that would take them to Athens International was waiting in the pier. Gary and Brian were loading luggage as the remainder of the crew gathered on the Main Deck aft to say their goodbyes and as they crossed the passerelle, both Andrew and Ryan experienced moments of sadness. 'MY Amira' had served them well and they had several wonderful memories of sailing on her. But it was time to move on and move forward, at least as far as Devlin-Major Charters was concerned. They were happy that she was being left in capable hands and that she would be cared for the way they had done. As the limousine glided away for the forty minute drive to the airport, she looked magnificent, every polished surface on board shining brightly and Michael sounded her horn mournfully in a final farewell.

The drive to the airport took them down the coast past Voula Beach and the across the top of the Greek peninsula to the airport. The afternoon rush was in full swing when they arrived at 1pm, so it was fairly busy. Check-in at the Lufthansa business class counter was quick and painless, receiving their boarding cards for both flights and their luggage being booked through to Cape Town, and the were soon comfortably ensconced in the business class lounge waiting to board their plane for the two and a half hour flight to Munich. Boarding was announced on time as was their departure from the gate. The flight was uneventful, just a normal inter- European hop with the usual beverage service followed by a small meal, touching down at Munich's Franz Josef International Airport at 16h30. Less than thirty minutes later they were through customs and immigration, and enjoying refreshments in the lounge.

Andrew was quite excited about the flight to Cape Town, it being on board one of the new Airbus A350-900 jets that had been delivered fairly recently and a type that they had not yet flown on.
When boarding was announced, Cameron was disappointed that the aircraft was not a double decker like the A380 and the Boeing748 that they had been on previously with the airline.
The flight, however, was superb, the plane being incredibly comfortable and very quiet.
The almost three hour layover at Munich had them departing at 19h15 for an eleven hour flight to Cape Town. The dinner was excellent as they had come to expect and the lie-flat position of the seat was very comfortable as was the pillow and soft blanket. The children all went down after dinner and slept through until breakfast was served ninety minutes before arrival. Andrew and Ryan enjoyed a solid six hours sleep as well.

Cape Town was behaving like a baby when they touched down - wet and windy. It was also quite cold, a far cry from the swelteringly hot climate they had come from. But, as always, it was good to be home. There was also much to look forward to, especially the reopening of the Drakensberg resort and the much anticipated launch of Lady Janice.